Gharana wetland to get major facelift

04/02/2023

The Gharana Wetland, which is 35 kilometers from Jammu, becomes home to 25,000-30,000 birds in the winter months of December, January and February. However, the wetland had been suffering because of negligence and encroachments. Domestic watershed was demarcated and no steps were taken to recover the occupied land. The famous Gharana Wetland is all set to get a major facelift with a focus on conservation of ecosystem and creating an attractive spot for bird watching, an official said on Friday. Chief Secretary A K Mehta on Thursday laid the foundation stone for the all-round development of the wetland, which is set to become an example of conservation of the ecosystem apart from being an attractive tourist spot. Gharana Wetland Conservation Reserve is home to more than 170 species of birds like bar-headed geese, gadwalls, common teals, purple swamp hens, Indian moorhens, black-winged stilts, cormorants, egrets and green shanks.
During the peak season, the water body attracts nearly 5,000 migratory birds from Central Asia, Mongolia, Russia, China and other countries across the globe, offering a great opportunity for bird lovers too. The endeavour should be to protect them along with making best out of their beauty and aesthetics and along with the nearby Suchetgarh village, Bagh-i-Bhour, this wetland would soon become a tourist hotspot. Besides developing the water body, the plan includes developing a large park, bird viewing decks, biogas plant, composting plant, wallowing area, STP, perches, reed plantation area and many more common amenities, said Chief Wildlife Warden Suresh Kumar Gupta, giving a detailed outline of the development plan of the ‘Gharana Eco-Spot'. The Department is in a process of conservation of all of them and in the last few years, five of these wetlands have been added to the list of Ramsar sites by UNESCO. Wildlife Department has also decided to train local youth in Gharana Wetland’s surrounding villages as bird guides to promote eco-and-border tourism. There was a need to promote eco as well as border tourism in the wetland for the nature lovers and birder watchers. Accordingly, the revenue department has handed over 402 kanals of land. For this purpose, the wildlife department had given Rs 11. 70 core to the revenue department for the disbursement of the amount among the farmers.

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